Nonpartisan Voter Guide

The following is a nonpartisan voter guide to the candidates and measures that will appear on the ballot in North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District, which houses Chapel Hill, on next Tuesday, November 6th. Positions for which only one candidate is running are not included. For more information on your address-specific candidates, visit Vote411.org.

NC-04: The district home to the UNC campus is a historically Strong Democratic one and is predicted to remain in the hands of Democratic incumbent David Price come November.

Price has been serving in Congress since 1987. He is currently is the ranking member on the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, making him the likely chair if Democrats win the House of Representatives. He also serves on the Appropriations Committee. His accomplishments in Congress include the “Stand By Your Ad” Act, which required candidates to appear in their ads and take responsibility for producing them.

Von Loor is running a long-shot campaign that emphasizes principles of the Trump-era Republican party. Von Loor supports the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and while he has said he would favor additional cuts in the income tax level, he has also said he would support implementation of the Balanced Budget Amendment (which would require the government to maintain a surplus). Von Loor considers himself a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment and would oppose gun regulations. He is also pro-life, supports defunding Planned Parenthood, and opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. Some of his priorities that may not align with typical Republican candidates include support for congressional term limits as well as campaign finance reform.

Howe casts herself as an alternative to a “fifteen-term incumbent who has become the very definition of ‘establishment.’” Her campaign’s top listed priorities align with some liberal priorities, including creating opportunity for dedicated immigrants, ending mass imprisonment of non-violent offenders, and reducing the cost of college. Howe proposes that universities reduce the cost of college by “reducing non-academic salaries, doing away with 4-star college dormitories, and stopping the marketing of worthless degrees,” rather than increasing funding to universities.

NC Supreme Court, Associate Justice Seat 1: This seat will be held for an eight-year term, next up for election in 2026. The current court balance tilts 5-4 in favor of Democrats.

Incumbent Justice Barbara Jackson boasts endorsements from Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, Commissioner of Labor Cherie Berry, and the NC GOP. She has served on the high court since 2010 and was previously an Associate Justice on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. She states judicial integrity is her highest priority. Jackson champions a conservative judicial philosophy and has consistently upheld laws passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly over the last eight years.

While Earls has not served as extensively in the judicial system as Jackson, she boasts a long career in civil rights law. Earls founded the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and worked in the Department of Justice under President Clinton. She has had two recent wins in court against gerrymandering, ruling in Covington v. North Carolina that the state legislative districts were unconstitutional racial gerrymanders and in League of Women Voters v. Rucho that the state’s Congressional districts were unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders. Earls emphasizes voting rights and ending racial and partisan gerrymandering as an important part of her judicial perspective.

Anglin is a dark-horse candidate. Registered as a Democrat until the filing deadline, he changed his registration to Republican at the midnight hour, leading to a series of lawsuits and arguments with the General Assembly. Eventually, it was ruled that he is allowed to run as a Republican. Anglin manages a law firm in Raleigh that focuses on personal injury lawsuits and civil litigation.

NC State Senate District 23: This election is for a two-year term for the 50-seat State Senate.

Foushee has been in the State Senate since 2012. Prior to filling this vacancy, Foushee served in the State House and on the Orange County Board of Commissioners. She lists her top priority as investment in education, including universal pre-K and affordable early college and college.

Glendinning spent much of his life in the Marine Corps, and currently serves on a number of boards and commissions in Chatham County. While not much is publicly available about his positions, his website emphasizes property rights, re-establishing manufacturing in rural counties, and non-discrimination towards seniors.

NC House of Representatives, District 56: This election is for a two-year term to the State House of Representatives.

Insko has served in the NC House of Representatives since 1996. Her legislative accomplishments include English as a Second Language in public schools and her role as a sponsor in the Confidence in Elections bill. Insko supports the expansion of Medicaid, expansion of early childhood education, and better pay for teachers and class size reduction.

Cooke has not previously held public office but was a high school French teacher in Pilot Mountain and a chemistry professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the Free University of Brussels. He states plans to promote advanced research and provide additional opportunities for the rapidly growing UNC medical community.

Clements embraces positions advocated by both Democratic and Republican candidates for the General Assembly. His more liberal stances on some issues include favoring the decriminalization of medical marijuana, decriminalization of drug possession, implementation of community-oriented policing, and he also favors fixing gerrymandering to hold politicians more accountable. On other issues, his positions line up primarily with conservatives, as he favors education choice, lower taxes, and lower spending.

Collins is an appellate attorney who practices regularly in front of the Court of Appeals and the State Supreme Court. Collins coins herself as an independent thinker, with endorsements from the NC Democratic Party and the Fraternal Order of Police.

There has been extensive analysis of the six constitutional amendments and how they might be interpreted by the General Assembly if approved by voters on Tuesday. The links to the ratified bills for each amendment are below. For a balanced take on what supporters and critics of the six constitutional amendments say, check out this summary from the Asheville Citizen-Times.